Defense industry to get JTRS update

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The military will meet with companies Feb. 26 to discuss the future of the multiyear, multibillion-dollar Joint Tactical Radio System program.

Officials at the JTRS Joint Program Office will outline goals for the software-defined radio initiative and want potential vendors to ask questions and convey concerns, according to a Jan. 23 statement.

"An exchange of ideas and information is desired to facilitate the understanding of the role of industry within this program from a full lifecycle perspective that will span decades of evolutionary JTRS development," the statement said.

The JTRS industry day briefing will include presentations by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Army and the JTRS JPO. The meeting will involve discussion on the JTRS program and its architecture and networking issues, the statement said.

The military owns more than 750,000 radios of 25 makes and models, many of which cannot talk to each other. Military officials hope the new systems will decrease those numbers and increase radio functionality by building one radio that will operate across the spectrum, from 2 MHz to 2 GHz. JTRS devices will be defined largely by software, which should make updates easier for new applications and allow radio casings to be used more than once.

The JTRS JPO will hold the industry day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Washington, D.C., but the statement did not give a location. The briefing fee is $20 per person and is limited to two people per company.

For more information, call Joyce Parker at 703-601-2585, or e-mail her at joyce.parker@itec4.army.mil.